Tinkering for beginners – Part 4: The Heavy Duties crash bars

When you want to go to the other side of the world on a motorbike, it is useful to have a little bit of technical knowledge of that motorbike. In this tinker blog series we write about our lessons and findings in the field of tinkering prior to our trip from Amsterdam to Australia. Have you already read part 1, 2 and 3? If not, please click here to go to part 1, part 2 or part 3.

For a week we thought about the mystery of the rear brake. And now back in the garage we lie next to the moterbike and we still have no idea… Erik suspected that the brake was not properly secured in the slot, but this was unfortunately not the problem. A few times assemble and disassemble the brake still brought no success. Erik began to lose the zen-feeling and meanwhile Bertha tried to think about some help lines. But all of a sudden, Erik experienced the Eureka moment! The sliding pin should not have been loosened, which is also clearly shown on one of the pictures in the Haynes manual! Erik disassembles the caliper again, and assembles the sliding pin as tight as possible. Then the caliper back on the rear wheel. The brake line had to be vented, but finally we have a properly functioning rear brake!

After lunch we start assembling the Heavy Duties crash bars. The bars we ordered some time ago at our Romanian friends, but now is finally the time to fit them on the motorbike. First, the center stand must be removed, which is not easy. The center pin is stuck and multiple tools break in the attempt to remove the pin. Eventually we succeed with a kind of wooden wedge to remove the center stand. The crash bars are mounted to the frame and give the motorbike a different, somewhat more raw look. The crash bars feel a lot sturdier than the old bars and give the caps of the bike more space. In case of a slider these crash bars will really break the fall!

We will keep you posted about our next technical experiences!